''King of Hearts'' (original French title: ''Le Roi de cœur'') is a 1966 French/Italian

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companie ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

directed by

Philippe de Broca Philippe de Broca (; 15 March 1933 – 26 November 2004) was a French movie director. He directed 30 full-length feature films, including the highly successful '' That Man from Rio (''L'Homme de Rio'')'', '' The Man from Acapulco (Le Magnifique) ...

and starring

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...

and

Geneviève Bujold Geneviève Bujold (; born July 1, 1942) is a Canadian actress. For her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the period drama film ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969), Bujold received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other film cre ...

. The film is set in a small town in France near the end of World War I. As the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

retreats, they

booby trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...

the whole town to explode. The locals flee and, left to their own devices, a gaggle of cheerful

lunatic Lunatic is an antiquated term referring to a person who is seen as mentally ill, dangerous, foolish, or crazy—conditions once attributed to "lunacy". The word derives from ''lunaticus'' meaning "of the moon" or "moonstruck". History The te ...

s escape the

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

and take over the town — thoroughly confusing the lone Scottish soldier who has been dispatched to defuse the bomb. Though the film is set during WWI the main message against war which the film pushes is intended to be about the Vietnam war which France had already been involved in for over a decade at this point. The connection between the "war to end all wars" and the then current conflict would have been obvious to French moviegoers at the time. Likewise its status as a

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage i ...

is largely because of its connection to the anti-war movement in the 1960s.

Plot

Signaller A signaller, signalman, colloquially referred to as a radioman or signaleer in the armed forces is a specialist soldier, sailor or airman responsible for military communications. Signallers, a.k.a. Combat Signallers or signalmen or women, are ...

Charles Plumpick (Bates) is a

kilt A kilt ( gd, fèileadh ; Irish: ''féileadh'') is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish ...

-wearing French-born Scottish soldier caring for

war pigeon Homing pigeons have long played an important role in war. Due to their homing ability, speed, and altitude, they were often used as military messengers. Carrier pigeons of the Racing Homer breed were used to carry messages in World War I and W ...

s, who is sent by his commanding officer to disarm a bomb placed in the town square by the retreating Germans. After the townspeople learn about the booby trap, its inhabitants—including those who run the insane asylum—abandon it. The asylum gates are left open, and the inmates leave the asylum and take on the roles of the townspeople. Plumpick has no reason to think they are not who they appear to be—other than the colorful and playful way in which they're living their lives, so at odds with the fearful and war-ravaged times. The lunatics crown Plumpick the King of Hearts with surreal pageantry as he frantically tries to find the bomb before it goes off.

Theatrical releases

When it was released in France in 1966, ''King of Hearts'' was not especially successful critically or at the box office, with only 141,035 admissions. However, it achieved bona fide cult-film status, when United States distribution rights were picked up by Randy Finley and Specialty Films in Seattle in 1973. It was paired with

Marv Newland Marv Newland (March 9, 1947) is an American-Canadian filmmaker, specialized in animation. Career Newland began a career making animated motion pictures in Los Angeles with the creation of the short '' Bambi Meets Godzilla'' (1969). He then desig ...

's '' Bambi Meets Godzilla'' and John Magnuson's '' Thank You Mask Man'' and marketed under the heading ''The King of Hearts and His Loyal Short Subjects''. During the mid 1970s, it was presented in repertory movie theaters as well as non-theatrical college and university film series across the United States, eventually running for five years at the now defunct film house, the Central Square Cinemas (2 screens) in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

Main cast

Jacques Balutin Jacques Balutin is a French actor.Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...

as Le Soldat Charles Plumpick * Daniel Boulanger as Le Colonel Von Krack *

Pierre Brasseur Pierre Brasseur (22 December 1905 – 16 August 1972), born Pierre-Albert Espinasse, was a French actor. Biography The son of actors Georges Espinasse and Germaine Brasseur, the latter a cousin of Albert Brasseur; his grandfather, Jules B ...

as Le Général Géranium *

Jean-Claude Brialy Jean-Claude Brialy (30 March 1933 – 30 May 2007) was a French actor and film director. Early life Brialy was born in Aumale (now Sour El-Ghozlane), French Algeria, where his father was stationed with the French Army. Brialy moved to mainland ...

as Le Duc de Trèfle *

as Coquelicot *

Pier Paolo Capponi Pier Paolo Capponi (9 June 1938 – 15 February 2018) was an Italian actor and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Subiaco, after his studies Capponi attended a theater school and later was chosen by director Vittorio De Seta for an import ...

as Un Officier Anglais *

Adolfo Celi Adolfo Celi (; 27 July 1922 – 19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian ...

as Le Colonel Mac Bibenbrook * Françoise Christophe as La Duchesse *

Daniel Prévost Daniel Prévost (born 20 October 1939) is a French actor, comedian and writer. Early life Daniel Prévost, alias Denis Forestier, was born to Micheline Chevalier and Mohand Ait Salem. His father was of Berber descent from Algeria (Kabylie re ...

as Le Général Vallemat * as Brunehaut * Marc Dudicourt as Lieutenant Hamburger *

Julien Guiomar Julien Guiomar (3 May 1928 in Morlaix, Finistère, Brittany – 22 November 2010 in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine), was a French film actor. The actor had retired to the Dordogne at Monpazier. The person who incarnated Colonel Vincent in ...

as Monseigneur Marguerite *

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...

as Alberic *

Micheline Presle Micheline Presle (; born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne; 22 August 1922) is a French actress. She was sometimes billed as Micheline Prelle. Starting in 1939, she starred in over 50 French and English language films that were made in H ...

as Madame Eglantine *

Michel Serrault Michel Serrault (24 January 1928 – 29 July 2007) was a French stage and film actor who appeared from 1954 until 2007 in more than 130 films. Life and career His first professional job was in a touring production in Germany of Molière's '' Les ...

as Monsieur Marcel

Uncredited

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Stage adaptation

In 1978, ''King of Hearts'' was adapted as a

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

of the same name, with a book by

Joseph Stein Joseph Stein (May 30, 1912 – October 24, 2010) was an American playwright best known for writing the books for such musicals as ''Fiddler on the Roof'' and '' Zorba''. Biography Born in New York City to Jewish parents, Charles and Emma ( ...

, lyrics by Jacob Brackman, music by Peter Link, orchestrations by Bill Brohn, set design by

Santo Loquasto Santo Richard Loquasto (born July 26, 1944) is an American production designer, scenic designer, and costume designer for stage, film, and dance. His work has included the films ''Big'', ''Radio Days'', '' Cafe Society'', ''Blue Jasmine'', ''D ...

, and direction and choreography by Ron Field. The cast featured

Don Scardino Donald Joseph Scardino (born February 17, 1949) is an American television director and producer and a former actor. Career Acting Scardino was born in New York City, to jazz musician parents, Dorothy Denny Scardino and Charles Scardino. His f ...

as the lead character, who was reworked as an American soldier named Johnny Perkins.

Pamela Blair Pamela Blair (born December 5, 1949), known as Pam, is an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for originating the role of "Val" in the musical ''A Chorus Line'' and several appearances on American soap operas. Early life and career ...

Bob Gunton Robert Patrick Gunton Jr. (born November 15, 1945) is an American character actor of stage and screen. He is known for playing strict authoritarian characters, including Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison drama '' The Shawshank Redemption'' ...

, and

Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the lone female singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satire show ''That Was the Week That Was'' known as TW3 (1962–1963), a ...

played supporting roles. Opening at New York City's

Minskoff Theatre The Minskoff Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the One Astor Plaza office building in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1973, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization and is named ...

on October 22, amid the three-month

1978 New York City newspaper strike The 1978 New York City newspaper strike ran from August 10 to November 5, 1978, a total of 88 days. It affected the New York City newspaper industry shutting down all three of the city's three major newspapers: ''The New York Times'', ''New York ...

that may have impeded its advance publicity, the show closed after 48 performances.Kelly, Kevin. "A broken 'Hearts': Director looks at what went wrong." ''The Boston Globe, December 24, 1978.
/ref>

References

External links

* * * {{Philippe de Broca 1966 films 1960s war comedy-drama films Anti-war films about World War I Western Front (World War I) films Films scored by Georges Delerue Films directed by Philippe de Broca Films set in France Films set in psychiatric hospitals Films shot in France French war comedy-drama films 1960s French-language films 1966 drama films 1960s French films